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必修
4 Unit 1
A STUDENT OF AFRICAN
WILDLIFE
It
is
5:45
am
and
the
sun
is
just
rising
over
Gombe
National
Park
in
East
Africa. Following Jane's way of
studying chimps, our group are all going to visit
them
in
the
forest.
Jane
has
studied
these
families
of
chimps
for
many
years
and
helped
people understand how much they behave
like humans. Watching a family of chimps
wake up is our first activity of the
day. This means going back to the place where we
left
the
family
sleeping
in
a
tree
the
night
before.
Everybody
sits
and
waits
in
the
shade of
the trees while the family begins to wake up and
move off. Then we follow
as
they
wander
into
the
forest.
Most
of
the
time,
chimps
either
feed
or
clean
each
other as a way of
showing love in their family. Jane warns us that
our group is going
to
be
very
tired
and
dirty
by
the
afternoon
and
she
is
right.
However,
the
evening
makes it all
worthwhile. We watch the mother chimp and her
babies play in the tree.
Then we see
them go to sleep together in their nest for the
night. We realize that the
bond between
members of a chimp family is as strong as in a
human family.
Nobody
before
Jane
fully
understood
chimp
behaviour.
She
spent
years
observing and recording their daily
activities. Since her childhood she had wanted to
work with animals in their own
environment. However, this was not easy. When she
first arrived in Gombe in 1960, it was
unusual for a woman to live in the forest. Only
after her mother came to help her for
the first few months was she allowed to begin
her project. Her work changed the way
people think about chimps. For example, one
important
thing
she
discovered
was
that
chimps
hunt
and
eat
meat.
Until
then
everyone had thought chimps ate only
fruit and nuts. She actually observed chimps as
a
group
hunting
a
monkey
and
then
eating
it.
She
also
discovered
how
chimps
communicate with each
other, and her study of their body language helped
her work
out their social
system.
For forty years Jane Goodall has been
outspoken about making the rest of the
world
understand
and
respect
the
life
of
these
animals.
She
has
argued
that
wild
animals should be left in the wild and
not used for entertainment or advertisements.
She has helped to set up special places
where they can live safely. She is leading a
busy
life
but
she
says:
I
stop,
it
all
comes
crowding
in
and
I
remember
the
chimps in laboratories. It's terrible.
It affects me when I watch the wild chimps. I say
to myself, 'Aren't they
lucky?
they have done nothing wrong.
Once you have seen that you
can never forget ...
She has
achieved everything she wanted to do: working with
animals in their
own environment,
gaining a doctor's degree and showing that women
can live in the
forest as men can. She
inspires those who want to cheer the achievements
of women.
WHY NOT CARRY
ON HER GOOD WORK?
I enjoyed English, biology, and
chemistry at school, but which one should I choose
to
study at university? I did not know
the answer until one evening when I sat down at
the computer to do some research on
great women of China.
By
chance
I
came
across
an
article
about
a
doctor
called
Lin
Qiaozhi,
a
specialist in women's diseases. She
lived from 1901 to 1983. It seemed that she had
been
very
busy
in
her
chosen
career,
travelling
abroad
to
study
as
well
as
writing
books and articles.
One of them caught my eye. It was a
small
book explaining how to
cut the death rate from having and caring for
babies. She gave
some simple rules to
follow for keeping babies clean, healthy and free
from sickness.
Why did she write that?
Who were the women that Lin Qiaozhi thought needed
this
advice? I looked carefully at the
text and
realized
that
it
was
intended
for
women
in
the
countryside.
Perhaps
if
they
had
an
emergency they could not
reach a doctor.
Suddenly it hit me how
difficult it was for a woman to get medical
training at
that time. That was a
generation when girls' education was always placed
second to
boys'. Was she so much
cleverer than anyone else? Further reading made me
realize
that it was hard work and
determination as well as her gentle nature that
got her into
medical school. What made
her succeed later on was the kindness and
consideration
she showed to all her
patients. There was story after story of how Lin
Qiaozhi, tired
after a day's work, went
late at night to deliver a baby for a poor family
who could not
pay her.
By now I could not wait to
find out more about her. I discovered that Lin
Qiaozhi
had
devoted
her
whole
life
to
her
patients
and
had
chosen
not
to
have
a
family
of
her
own.
Instead
she
made
sure
that
about
50,000
babies
were
safely
delivered. By this time I was very
excited. Why not study at medical college like Lin
Qiaozhi and carry on her good work? It
was still not too late for me to improve my
studies, prepare for the university
entrance examinations, and….
必修
4
Unit 2
A PIONEER FOR ALL
PEOPLE
Although
he
is
one
of
China's
most
famous
scientists,
Yuan
Longping
considers
himself
a
farmer,
for
he
works
the
land
to
do
his
research.
Indeed,
his
sunburnt
face
and
arms
and
his
slim,
strong
body
are
just
like
those
of
millions
of
Chinese
farmers,
for
whom
he
has
struggled
for
the
past
five
decades.
Dr
Yuan
Longping
grows
what
is
called
super
hybrid
rice.
In
1974,
he
became
the
first
agricultural
pioneer
in
the
world
to
grow
rice
that
has
a
high
output.
This
special
strain
of
rice
makes
it
possible
to
produce
one
-
third
more
of
the
crop
in
the
same
fields.
Now
more
than
60%
of
the
rice
produced
in
China
each
year
is
from
this
hybrid
strain.
Born into a poor farmer's
family in 1930, Dr Yuan graduated from Southwest
Agricultural College in 1953. Since
then, finding ways to grow more rice has been his
life goal. As a young man, he saw the
great need for increasing the rice output. At that
time,
hunger
was
a
disturbing
problem
in
many
parts
of
the
countryside.
Dr
Yuan
searched for a way to
increase rice harvests without expanding the area
of the fields.
In
1950,
Chinese
farmers
could
produce
only
fifty
million
tons
of
rice.
In
a
recent
harvest,
however,
nearly
two
hundred
million
tons
of
rice
was
produced.
These
increased harvests mean that 22% of the
world's people are fed from just 7% of the
farmland in China. Dr Yuan is now
circulating his knowledge in India, Vietnam and
many
other
less
developed
countries
to
increase
their
rice
harvests.
Thanks
to
his
research,
the
UN
has
more
tools
in
the
battle
to
rid
the
world
of
hunger.
Using
his
hybrid
rice, farmers are producing harvests twice as
large as before.
Dr Yuan is quite satisfied
with his life. However, he doesn't care about
being
famous. He feels it gives him
less freedom to do his research. He would much
rather
keep
time
for
his
hobbles.
He
enjoys
listening
to
violin
music,
playing
mah
-
jong,
swimming and reading. Spending money on
himself or leading a comfortable life also
means very little to him. Indeed, he
believes that a person with too much money has
more rather than fewer troubles. He
therefore gives millions of yuan to equip others
for their research in agriculture.
Just
dreaming
for
things,
however,
costs
nothing.
Long
ago
Dr
yuan
had
a
dream about rice plants as tall as
sorghum. Each ear of rice was as big as an ear of
corn and each grain of rice was as huge
as a peanut. Dr Yuan awoke from his dream
with the hope of producing a kind of
rice that could feed more people. Now, many
years
later,
Dr
Yuan
has
another
dream:
to
export
his
rice
so
that
it
can
be
grown
around
the globe. One dream is not always enough,
especially for a person who loves
and
cares for his people.
CHEMICAL OR ORGANIC
FARMING?
Over the past
half century,
using
chemical
fertilizers
has
become very
common
in
farming.
Many
farmers
welcomed
them
as
a
great
way
to
stop
crop
disease
and
increase
production.
Recently,
however,
scientists
have
been
finding
that
long
-
term
use
of
these
fertilizers
can
cause
damage
to
the
land
and,
even
more
dangerous,
to
people's health.
What are some of the problems caused by
chemical fertilizers? First, they
damage the land by killing the helpful
bacteria and pests as well as the harmful ones.
Chemicals also stay in the ground and
underground water for a long time. This affects
crops and, therefore, animals
and humans, since chemicals
get
inside the crops and
cannot
just be washed off.
These chemicals
in
the food
supply build up in
people's
bodies over time. Many
of
these chemicals
can lead to
cancer or other illnesses.
In
addition, fruit,
vegetables and other food grown with chemical
fertilizers usually grow
too
fast
to
be
full
of
much
nutrition.
They
may
look
beautiful,
but
inside
there
is
usually more water than vitamins and
minerals.
With these discoveries,
some farmers and many customers are beginning to
turn
to
organic
farming.
Organic
farming
is
simply
farming
without
using
any
chemicals. They
focus on
keeping their soil rich and free of disease. A
healthy soil
reduces disease
and helps crops grow strong and healthy. Organic
farmers, therefore,
often prefer using
natural waste from animals as fertilizer. They
feel that this makes
the soil in their
fields richer in minerals and so more fertile.
This also keeps the air,
soil, water
and crops free from chemicals.
Organic farmers also use many other
methods to keep the soil fertile. They
often
change
the
kind
of
crop
in
each
field
every
few
years,
for
example,
growing
corn
or
wheat
and
then
the
next
year
peas
or
soybeans.
Crops
such
as
peas
or
soybeans
put important minerals back into the soil, making
it ready for crops such as
wheat or
corn that need rich and fertile soil. Organic
farmers also plant crops to use
different
levels
of
soil,
for
example,
planting
peanuts
that
use
the
ground's
surface
followed
by
vegetables
that
put
down
deep
roots.
Some
organic
farmers
prefer
planting grass
between crops to prevent wind or water from
carrying away the soil,
and then
leaving it in the ground to become a natural
fertilizer for the next year's crop.
These
many
different
organic
farming
methods
have
the
same
goal:
to
grow
good
food and avoid damaging
the environment or people's health.
必修
4 Unit 3
A MASTER OF NONVERBAL HUMOUR
As
Victor
Hugo
once
said,
is
the
sun
that
drives
winter
from
the
human
face
and
up
to
now
nobody
has
been
able
to
do
this
better
than
Charlie
Chaplin. He
brightened
the lives
of
Americans
and British through two
world
wars
and
the
hard
years
in
between.
He
made
people
laugh
at
a
time
when
they
felt
depressed, so they could feel more
content with their lives.
Not that Charlie's own life was easy!
He was born in a poor family in 1889. His
parents
were
both
poor
music
hall
performers.
You
may
find
it
astonishing
that
Charlie was taught to sing as soon as
he could speak and dance as soon as he could
walk. Such training was common in
acting families at this time, especially when the
family income was often uncertain.
Unfortunately his father died, leaving the family
even worse off, so Charlie spent his
childhood looking after his sick mother and his
brother.
By
his
teens,
Charlie
had,
through
his
humour,
become
one
of
the
most
popular
child
actors
in
England.
He
could
mime
and
act
the
fool
doing
ordinary
everyday
tasks.
No
one
was
ever
bored
watching
him
-
his
subtle
acting
made
everything entertaining.
As time went by, he began
making films. He grew more and more popular as
his
charming
character,
the
little
tramp,
became
known
throughout
the
world.
The
tramp,
a poor, homeless man with a moustache, wore large
trousers, worn
-
out shoes
and a small round black hat. He walked
around stiffly carrying a walking stick. This
character
was
a
social
failure
but
was
loved
for
his
optimism
and
determination
to
overcome all
difficulties. He was the underdog who was kind
even when others were
unkind to
him.
How
did the little tramp make a sad situation
entertaining? Here is an example
from
one of his most famous films, The Gold Rush. It is
the mid
-
nineteenth century
and gold has just been discovered in
California. Like so many others, the little tramp
and his friend have rushed there in
search of gold, but without success. Instead they
are hiding in a small hut on the edge
of a mountain during a snowstorm with nothing
to eat. They are so hungry that they
try boiling a pair of leather shoes for their
dinner.
Charlie first picks out the
laces and eats them as if they were spaghetti.
Then he cuts
off the leather top of the
shoe as if it were the finest steak. Finally he
tries cutting and
chewing
the
bottom
of
the
shoe.
He
eats
each
mouthful
with
great
enjoyment.
The
acting is so convincing
that it makes you believe that it is one of the
best meals he has
ever
tasted!
Charlie Chaplin wrote, directed and
produced the films he starred in. In 1972 he
was given a special Oscar for his
outstanding work in films. He lived in England and
the USA but spent his last years in
Switzerland, where he was buried in 1977. He is
loved
and
remembered
as
a
great
actor
who
could
inspire
people
with
great
confidence.